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Circle of Blood

A Witch Hunt Novel

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Overview

Samantha Ryan—cop by choice, witch hunter by necessity—is about to confront the witch who has been secretly manipulating her life. But her search for the truth about her past may end in her death.…

All her life, Samantha Ryan has been haunted by a circle of blood, which she has tried to keep at bay—ever since she escaped a vicious Salem coven of witches as a child. But now her carefully constructed life has given way to the darkness she might have embraced, had she not run away.

Angry, focused, and more than willing to use her powers on anyone who gets in her way, Samantha travels to New Orleans to confront Lilith Black, the witch who has been mercilessly shaping events around her for months.

But little does Samantha know that her own nightmarish past and Lilith’s are inescapably intertwined—and that what Lilith wants most of all is for Samantha to suffer until her final breath.…

Series

Dear Reader Letter

Dear Reader,

I love stories where the heroes grow as characters and become forces to be reckoned with. Everyone has a dark side. Some people only have to truly deal with theirs once or twice in a lifetime. For others it’s a daily battle. The Witch Hunt series deals as much with Samantha’s own internal battle over her dark side as it does with her outward battle against evil covens and the nearly invisible hand of a witch who has been manipulating her for months. In Circle of Blood, the final book in the series, Samantha’s dark side has definitely come to play and seemingly has taken over. Before the external conflict can be resolved the internal one has to finish playing out. Samantha’s biggest problems have been rooted in fear and mistrust of her own ability to use her powers for good. Even when others believe in her she has sometimes had difficulty believing in herself. Before she faces her greatest battle she has to make peace with herself. I’d say that’s true for just about anyone who faces a great challenge.

I also love stories that touch on common fears, such as fear of the dark and fear of abandoned places. These are two I play with a lot throughout the series. I put Samantha in a number of places where these two forces could work to unnerve her, and hopefully, you the reader. There are scenes set deep in the Louisiana bayou, in a warehouse containing Mardi Gras floats, in one of the creepiest cemeteries in New Orleans, and in the decaying, abandoned Jazzland theme park. Throughout this series I have used the locations in such a way that they are characters in and of themselves. I may have inadvertently ruined one or two places for myself in that they are places I’ve loved going that now freak me out a little bit because of the scenes I wrote. However, if I’ve managed to create an atmosphere that intrigues and unnerves you, then it was totally worth it.